Can I Inquire About Something?: Inquiry Based Instruction Trial 1

My freshman year of college I had a professor that used a variety of inquiry based and problems based learning and teaching methods- at first I struggled.  Then I realized he was a genious, the way he brought us from point A to point B amazed me.  Trying this approach on for the first time, I really enjoyed it.  Not only did I get excited about the method and approach- but also the content.  This brought out my personal curiosity, and I hope it will do that for students as well.  Below are some gems and opportunities from my lab!

Gems:

Creativity 

For this lab we were asked to use part of a kit or a piece of scientific equipment.  I looked through a Food Nutrient Kit to start brainstorming....and testing in my kitchen!  This took a little time and adapting, but slowly I started to pull the peices of this homemade-scratch paper lesson into a successful inquiry based instruction lab.   The cool thing about this process was my natural curiosity (the same mentality I want to bring out in my students) kicked in.  I wanted to see which foods or beverages had reducing sugars and why.

Context & Questions

Inquiry based instruction requires facilitation- setting a little context (words or simply materials) and guiding students to research and ask.  I felt I set a context that framed the lab but also would also allow for student self direction and discovery.  The quesitons I led with, asked to students and the correlations I tied I felt were done very well, and I think my classmates would agree.  This teaching segment more than the others I felt more comfortable and confident as well.

Opportunities to Grow: 

Front-loading 

This is a struggle.  The inquiry based instruction spectrum moves from teacher led to student led.  The goal is really to create an inquisitive and student directed learning atmosphere. At the beginning of this lab I did front-load some things.  I do not think it was a bad thing, but I did have to stop myself and even when I was a participant in labs I found myself wanting more information at the beginning.  For my first lab, this front-loading was okay, but challenging myself to take away some of that framework is what I need to do next.  It also makes me think about what I am saying and doing more- the quiet observation is uncomfortable (for me), but needed for students.  This requires a little more confidence (in myself and the students).  I am looking forward to redrafting this and trying it again.

Differentiation

Every student will respond to this method differently, which makes sense all students are different. Two of the groups jumped right in, whereas another group needed more time, and I need to be okay with that.  The prompting and pointed questions I believe helped them to get to this spot, but this is an area I want to continue to reflect on.  It worked in this group of 7, but I need to make it work for 20 now.